PC Gurus, Need Opinions
 

I will be building myself a new PC in the next month or two, and I am looking to see what you guys have to say about my choices...

opinions wanted...

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P4 2.4C 800mHz FSB $172 RETAIL
Abit IS7 $108 RETAIL
GeIL Golden Dragon DDR 512MB 400MHz Model GD3200-512DC $95 RETAIL
ATI RADEON 9500 PRO 128MB DDR DVI AGP $198 RETAIL
Seagate 120GB 7200rpm SATA Hard Drive Barracuda 7200.7 ST3120026AS $125
Lian-Li PC-0716 USB 2.0 (Silver) Aluminum ATX Mid-Tower Case $60 Retail
Antec 380W Power Supply TRUE380 $71.99

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$829.99


P.S. I know what I am doing when it comes to PCs, so dont throw me any do you know what you are doing questions... ;)

Re: PC Gurus, Need Opinions
 

Are you happy with that brand case and power supply? I usually pay less than $60 for both case and Power Supply, but I am not really picky.

I like everything else.

Doug

I was trying to go low budget, but the case is just sweet, and we all have our toys :)

That's what I assumed since everything else was high end too.

You have my blessing (like that means anything)

Doug

System looks good to me, but that depends on what you intend to do with it. Have you considered the Athlon series or are you set on Intel?

If it's a gaming machine the video card may be the weakest link. I've not always had the best of luck with ATI video drivers, but I hear they have gotten better in recent times. At home I have two ATI machines and two Nvidia machines. I prefer the Nvidia for the high end, but then like I said, ATI caused me problems in the past so I'm probably biased. One other game limitation of the Abit is the built-in AC sound. Not sure on the latest iteration, but previous versions used up too many CPU cycles figuring out what to do with sound production. May want to read up on it and see if my info is way old.

You don't list any drive types other than hard disk. Your choice of course, but I didn't even bother with a floppy on my last machine - CD-Rs are cheaper and everybody has a CD these days (in terms of sneaker net file sharing).

BTW, you list pretty good pricing, but just in case you may want to look at this site:

http://www.pricewatch.com/

Thanks, I know pricewatch well. :) ATI benchmarks better than nvidia now, and they did used to have big problems. It seems that NVIDIA and ATI are in a heated battle right now, and thats great for me, the consumer :)

As for AMD P4 issues, my current system that I built is an AMD TBird 900 and it worked very well. It also has a GeForce 4 in it. :) Its primary function is a gaming machine. And I plan on disabling the onboard sound and using my SB XGamer Live soundcard from my current system.

Also, this processor has been sucessfully overclocked to 3.4-3.6 gHz with air cooling only, and yes it was stable... This processor is also capable of hyper-threading, where-as AMD has yet to breach that barrier as of yet.

I've probably built about 18 PCs. www.pricewatch.com is your friend.

- Rob

I like building computers. looks like a good list of parts. I tend to go with AMD for porcessors. And N Do you "mod" your cases (strobe lights, neons, liquid cooling, NAWS?)
I'm looking to build a PVR/media pc setup right now. I use pricewatch but I also use newegg.com I've had some luck there as well.

have fun

everything looks fine.
the ati radeon problem was solved (mostly) with the 9000. the 9500 with a P4 should work beautifully.
only thing im not sure about is the Abit IS7. what is that?
as for the power supply, if your going to be running anything powerful, or more than 3 drives, go with a 430, just for that extra "oomph". these things fail over time. im sure you know that.
you seem to know what your doing and what you want.

- CNIT - High Tech Institute of Phoenix

The Abit would be the new motherboard to support all of this stuff...

I havent modded any cases as of yet, but I may do so with this case. One thing I plan on doing is making the CD drives invisible, by chopping the tabs off of the bay covers and recessing the drives, then you attach the drive bay cover to the CD Door, this way when you right click on the drive, and click eject, the case magically opens :)

ive never heard of Abit. are they new? i tend to lean towards Gigabyte and Asus for motherboards. what are the specs? DDR obviously. master bus speed?

aluminum sure is sweet.
my newest creation:

Abit has been around for quite some time, after ASUSes newest MB tavesty I would rank them up there in that range of MBs. They are reputable and nice boards.

AS for the FSB speed, well it matches that of the hyperthreaded CPU I am possibly buying, 800mHz!!

http://www.abit-usa.com/products/mb/...ies=1&model=79

This is what our computer looks like:

http://www.subaru-svx.net/photos/user.php?~*~JenSVX~*~|10696

Sometimes links to my locker don't work though so you may have to get there another way.

~Jen

I have the most modified fastest 1st gen iMac on earth. Claim to fame. Heh.

- Rob